Okay, So I Lied and I'm Not Making Anymore Promises

Something strange happened to me this week. I was thinking about this overwhelming desire I have to declare myself all better. All cried out. All finished grieving. This desire is so overwhelming that I keep mentioning it in these blog posts, as if everyone reading is waiting with bated breath for me to make this declaration. I'm like a little puppy when I see someone who knows how sad I've been and how my dad's big one-year-since-death anniversary just passed, I kind-of jump around wagging my tail, waiting for a pat on the head, hoping for a "Good girl!" because I followed directions and did what I was supposed to do and now I get a treat. Not a single person in my life has ever said, "Okay Anna, you're all done. It's time to move on." And yet, I assume that is what everyone is thinking. It's as if I've been deaf to what I'm really hearing which is "Take all the time you need." So, the strange thing that happened is I began to believe you. And boy does it feel good.

After my last post, a sweet friend of mine shared an article featuring two authors who had written books about how they dealt with loss (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/weekinreview/27grief.html?_r=1. One of the authors, Meghan O’Rourke, said the following:

In those first months, I quickly came to feel almost embarrassed by my sorrow. Most people are uncomfortable around loss. Friends talk to you about “getting through it” and “moving on” and “healing.” We shy away from talking about death, not out of cold-heartedness, but out of fear. No one wants to say the wrong thing; and death is scary. I think this is part of why there are so many memoirs and movies about loss: they create a public space where we can talk safely about grief.

I was so grateful for this insight because, to be perfectly honest, I can't quite explain why I wanted to share my journey via this blog, but I can tell you that I absolutely believe there is a need to create more space in our society to talk about loss, to support those in mourning, and to honor and remember those who have passed. I also appreciated receiving affirmation that death is scary. I think I told you that one of my first stops after losing my dad was the bookstore. So many of the stories written for children about death and dying emphasize how death is a natural part of life. I latched on to that, thinking that if I could incorporate that concept into my understanding of life and pass that on to my children, we'd all be better prepared for facing our next loss. God forbid. See? Even as I begin to accept that death is a part of a life, and let's face it, it is, I fear the loss of another loved one. Death is a scary part of life.

Death really doesn't make sense when you think about it. How could someone I saw several times a week just disappear, never to be seen again? Yet, that's how it happens. It's not like my dad and I made an agreement to stop seeing each other. Or, like one of us moved somewhere far away. I had no choice in the matter. One day he was here, in my doorway, talking, breathing, living, and laughing. And that night he died. Now there are no more opportunities to say the things we put off saying to each other. This is what we signed up for though, we may not like it, but death is just as much a part of the cycle of life as birth. And the pain I've felt, like my heart had literally broken open, like I couldn't breathe, like I couldn't imagine how any of us would go on, all of it, is just as much a part of my emotional range as joy. My pain has turned to emptiness and my disbelief has turned to sadness and as these changes occur, I begin to understand that death makes just as much sense as life. Death is part of life.

When I hear people talk about living life to its fullest I picture myself in the sunshine with wide open arms, a smile on my face, hair blowing in the wind, all but floating my way across a field of wildflowers to a pot of gold, or something. I picture my children and I laughing together and playing together. I picture my husband and I holding hands, walking along the Red Cedar River on MSU's campus. I never get an image representing the other end of the spectrum. I have never considered what it would mean to live life to its fullest when I'm sad. I never get a picture of myself stomping out of a room, slamming doors, and screaming in anger. I don't see myself falling apart. Grieving is teaching me that living life to its fullest means living every little bit of life. It means being free to feel every little thing from utter despair to boredom to sheer delight. I don't get to skip over the sad stuff. None of us do.

I love that I get to live life to its fullest. It is true that I would not appreciate the happiness in my life if I had never known sadness. I love a good cry. I love a good laugh, as long as I don't wet my pants. I'm finally listening to you. I'm finally listening to me. I think I get it. I'll take my time, I'll move through the ups and the downs, I'll breathe into the waves, and I'll begin to fill the empty holes in my heart with great memories of my dad. I'm not making another promise about what I will or will not write about the next time I write. I cannot predict how long it will take before a visit to my parents' house doesn't end in tears. I don't want to predict it. I don't even want to know. I just want to feel my way through, as I go. Wherever I go.